From reading posts here over the last five years, it seems to me that there are different 'levels' of VW enthusiasm out there. I have tried to summarise my observations below. Have I over-simplified, or have I left anyone out?
For the record, I am Level 1.
Level 5:
Might have owned a VW years ago, but doesn't have one now. Retains some affection for old VWs, but today drives cars built by other makers.
Level 4:
Owns a VW, but feels no special affection for the brand and is happy to fit non-VW engines etc to it. Might also own a non-VW.
Level 3:
Loves air-cooled VWs but dislikes modern VWs, or vice versa. Owns a VW of their preference, but also owns other cars built by other makers.
Level 2:
Loves air-cooled VWs but dislikes modern VWs, or vice-versa. Would only ever own a VW, but only either air or water-cooled, depending on their preference.
Level 1:
Loves both air and water-cooled VWs equally. Owns (or would own) examples of each. Has never owned any other make of car and never would.
What about;
loves air cooled likes water cooled,
owns at least one,
was bitten by the bug a long time ago & will never lose the desire to have one
drives another make at other times, keeps the VW for fun !!!
Step up to get out !!!
Hmm, What about Loves air-cooled VWs, but would own a water cooled VW for practicality rather any other brand of modern car? (Don't love water cooled, but have brand allegiance).
I can't see this one working vice versa... air-cooled for practicality? 🤪
Part of Melbourne's Unreal Aircooled VW Community
I'd say I'm number four, although I don't know if that "no special affection for the brand" is correct.
I'm proud of being into dubs 😁
over-simplified.
How bout, loves VW's, would love a air cooled split or Karman ghia but can't afford one - puts a subby in a bug instead to compensate 🤪
no, i love beetles, bitten and will hopefully always have one.
New Ghia you are Level 3 as you own a VW of your preference and also a non-VW. You don't have an air AND water-cooled VW.
Jay that sounds like Level 1 to me as you would have both air AND water, 'rather than any other brand'. Yes it would be possible to have a 'collectors' water-cooled VW (a rare or historic one, say) and drive a normal air-cooler every day. Just a bit unusual though!
Simon I think you're right, perhaps I should take out 'no affection for the brand'. At least owning a VW is better than none at all (Level 5).
Mick that sounds like somewhere between level 4 and 3, but closer to 4. Putting a 'Subby' in a VW prevents moving up to Level 2, which is VW-only.
Yes I suppose we could subdivide until we have say 10 different categories, but I'm trying to keep it simple. Thanks for the feedback!
I own aircooled for fun, a water cooled for fun and also drive a car and bike of another brand......
Will always own a VW and would have bought one, but could only afford something of another make?
I have no sympathy for my car, only the wallet that pays for it!
Go hard or go home!!!!
hmmm - what if i owned a air-cooled veedub also? I'm stained for life for putting a suby in? Better not mention the 12a then??? 😂
Bix you are Level 3 as you own a non-VW as well as your VWs. In the 1980s and 1990s there were no good second-hand modern VWs available (as new VW cars weren't sold here from 1981-1990), but now there are lots of them. Everyone can afford a modern VW in addition to their air-coolers - you can pick up a good mid-90s Golf 3 now for around $6k, and later Golfs, Polos or Passats for not much more. And as VW now sells nearly 30,000 vehicles per year here, it's only going to get easier to get a modern second-hand VW in the years to come.
Afraid so Mick! A Level 1 person would have got a Golf GTI to go fast.
Not sure where I fit in to that.
My only stipulation is the engine is in the back. Air or water don't matter.
Well my friends are gone & my hair is grey, I ache in the places where I used to play.
Hmm - now I'm scratching my head! Spook you should be happy with T3 Kombis then, up to 1991, which are rear engine. But VW hasn't sold rear-engined vehicles in Oz since then, and all their modern range is front-engine front-drive, or 4WD, which otherwise leaves you at Level 2.
But if VW had put the 1983 Polo Sprint into production, you could have modern rear-engined VWs (it had a 115 kW G supercharged Wasserboxer flat four in the tail):
i'm lost to where i fit.
love air, love water. own one of each. haven't had a non vw in about 4 years. doubt i'll ever go anything else other then vw.
not a complete fanatic where my dub s rule my life, but couldn't imagine not having one to play with.
not fussed whether it has an air, water or non vw powerplant as long as it has a VW badge on the front
Im level 1 pretty much but i also own Audi which also counts as VW yeah?
Absolutely! You two guys are Level 1 for sure. I hadn't thought about Audis but yes they are VWs too. I guess that also goes for SEATs but I'm less happy about that. Let alone Skodas, Lamborghinis, Bugattis and Bentleys.
There are obviously problems with my simplistic system, and it sure isn't going to fit everyone. For example, I personally don't like the idea putting Subaru or rotary engines in VWs - yet I once looked seriously at buying a new rebuilt reverse-rotation Chevrolet Corvair engine from the US for my Kombi. I didn't do it, but if I had, where would I be on my own list, given that I also drive a Golf, would never buy a non-VW vehicle and spend my spare time working for Club Veedub?
Also I'm not saying that any level is 'better' or 'worse' than any other level. They aren't. It's just a way of organising and seeing how other people feel, nothing more.
Phil74Camper wrote:Hmm - now I'm scratching my head! Spook you should be happy with T3 Kombis then, up to 1991, which are rear engine. But VW hasn't sold rear-engined vehicles in Oz since then, and all their modern range is front-engine front-drive, or 4WD, which otherwise leaves you at Level 2.
But if VW had put the 1983 Polo Sprint into production, you could have modern rear-engined VWs (it had a 115 kW G supercharged Wasserboxer flat four in the tail):
Got the T3 Caravelle & I'm very happy with it. For long distance running and/or towing, it's a great truck.
Got the Beetle for a bit of fun, I keep the bay kombi for sentimental reasons.
On the quiet I got a dune buggy coming as my mid life crisis.
This is not to mention the 300 odd toy VW's downstairs.
Well my friends are gone & my hair is grey, I ache in the places where I used to play.
LEVEL 3.... no dislike for water cooled at all.....
had a early golf at 1 stage that was my wife's daily driver from western sub's to the airport every day,
did awesome burnouts,
just driving other cars that are more practical day to day. ( 2 small kids, tools, lots of other misc stuff)
Although i did take the ghia out to a small job yesterday....85 km's of SMILES !!!!
Step up to get out !!!
I think I am level one. I have always had beetles, but my wife has had other brands years ago, before water cooled VWs became more affordable. She now has a Bora and had a VR6 golf before that, and loves them both.
Does time as a VW person/owner count? My dad bought his first car, a new 57 beetle, on the day I was born. It was the first car I was ever in (to come home from the hospital) and the rego always came up on my birthday.
I had beetles as wedding cars, when my eldest daughter met her husband the common link was their love of VWs - she had an Lbug, and he had a golf (he had bugs before that), and then they had new beetles as wedding cars. Now she has a New Beetle and he has a Passat.
Oh, and my brother has a deisel Jetta. He used to have a Baja. Another brother had a Kombi camper, and my sister went out with a bloke with a Kombi for a few years.
From your ole' mate Jeff
I absolutely love all Volkswagens in every way, I eat, sleep, drink, walk, talk and breathe VWs. I have never owned another brand of car and never will!! But I own a few Baja's and wouldn't be bother putting a different engine in them. Where do I fit Phil? Or does it have to be something like a 2L Golf engine for the swap? LOL
If you said I was a Volkswagen man, you'd be right.
A bloke in Port Macquarie used to have a Baja with an early deisel Golf engine in it. I don't know that he has it any more.
From your ole' mate Jeff
I think I am level six (maybe 5), I am yet to own my first VW, although I am very keen and am learning quite fast.
I was previously level 1 for datsuns (except work utes) but going to a few VW shows changed that 😵 Now I am planning on getting an early body Type 3 Squareback as my first.
"Bad News" travels fast
Can't say I know where I fit, probably 1.5. Only have, and only ever had air cooled VW's, but don't have anything against watercooled (did a lot of driving in my brothers T3 ute). There will come a time when I give up on keeping the fleet on the road, and even though I would look seriously at a modern VW, I would look at other brands also.
As much as I love VW's, I started and stuck with them mainly because they were cheap and easy to maintain rather than hell bent of VW's.
Hey Phil, doesn't your kombi have a number of non vw internals? Is that far removed from a replacement motor?
That flat four polo would have been excellent, but that body shape doesn't make the most of a rear engine.
Of course, there are plenty of other parameters that could be taken into account to measure your level of 'Volkswagenism', apart from what car(s) you drive now.
Such as How long you have owned VWs, How many do you own, Have you modified or changed them, Whether you belong to a VW club, and How long you have been a member, and Are you on their committee, and If you work in the VW industry, or If you collect VW toys and literature...and so on and so on. I'm not even going to go there.
My categories are only a starting point, which I hope will make people think about what VWs (old AND new) mean to them. I wonder if the many people who love old VWs, but feel indifferent about new/current ones, have just not driven one?
Yes Andy you seem to be between 1 and 2. The difference is what happens when you go looking for a newer car - a Level 1 would only consider another VW, not any other brand. Yes I used to have a 2.3-litre Type 4 engine in my Kombi, but when it eventually failed last year I put a completely stock 2.0-litre CJ engine back in it. In my increasing old age, long-term reliability is more important to me now than the slight performance drop.
The Polo was a one-off prototype, built to assess handling and performance characteristics to compare with the (then) new Golf 2 GTI. Both cars would have had similar performance, but the handling would have been very different! The Polo Sprint was never intended for production, but remains an interesting 'what if' idea.
do u have a level 0 ???
this is a funny system. i would rate as a 3 as i also have had 2 volvo's and still have my '64 122S. plus i don't drive a vw at the moment as when we drive my mother in laws old car (it was the right price 🙂 ). but on the flip side i spend several hours every evening on vw related stuff. every day at work i ask at least 2 or 3 customers if they know of any vw's about the place. i have vw bits next to the computer, small bits i have been cleaning up on a shelf in the lounge room, some of my smaller nice stuff in my bedroom cupboards, bits plus the stuff to clean them up in the bag i take to work etc etc. aka i'm, well, fairly involved in my hobby/interest.
No Dave, how would be MORE VW-headed than Level 1?? You like it so much you buy the company?
i will tell yar tonight
I would have to say i love both air and water cooled VW's, and may well soon have both😂.
But we also own other brand cars too. can't say that we love those ones but😂
Moving is a Bitch😂
who does not know what he wants to do and has his vw stored in boxes around the shed🤪😂🤪 never to see the light of day again🥲🥲
😂🤪😂🤪😂
car forums. where a lot of peoples good intentions end up taking a good old car off the road forever never ever to see the road again. 🥲
